Happy birthday to me
Yes, that time of year has rolled around again. (Sings “Happy birthday” quietly to himself; no-one joins in.)
I had a very busy day with only one special happening. Well, two actually.
I spent most of the morning at the doctors’ surgery. Nothing to get alarmed about – just a routine check-up and all is in order. I needed new scripts for some regular medications I take. I also renewed my driver’s licence last week because the 10 years on the old one were up. To get my licence I had to declare that I had diabetes (which I was diagnosed with since my last renewal). This required a doctor’s consultation and a 4 page questionnaire for her to fill in after she had run me through quite a few tests, most relating to my eyesight. No problems there.
In the afternoon I helped my wife packing up my mother in law’s unit. Last Monday she was admitted to a local aged care home with advancing dementia. It is sad to see her deteriorating on a daily basis, but she is now receiving the professional care we tried to provide but it was beyond our skills. I admire people who dedicate their working lives to helping people in need like this.
A highlight for my birthday was that I bought myself some new binoculars. My old pair has been good, but I bought some lightweight, compact binoculars which are much better. Can’t wait to get out in the field and try them out doing some birding.
In the evening I took my wife to one of the local hotels for a birthday dinner. We had a lovely time, good food and a great view over the River Murray. It was definitely the highlight of the day. Later we each had separate meetings to attend. Mine proved to long and, at times, difficult and challenging, having to deal with a serious issue.
Now back to writing.
Dealing with time wasters
1 Comment »8th November, 2011; Category: The Writer's Life
I guess almost every occupation has inbuilt time wasting activities. Unnecessary meetings, for example. In another life I experienced – as a classroom teacher – I was aware of many time wasters, and not just some of the activities indulged in by my students.
I, too, was guilty of being sidetracked by time wasting activities in my daily routines. Overall I think I managed them at quite a reasonable level. It’s amazing how accountability to parents, colleagues and a principal can be a strong incentive to perform.
Accountability
As a writer, however, I generally don’t have anyone peering over my shoulder ensuring I keep on task. I’m accountable to only myself. There’s the problem; it’s so easy to allow time wasting activities and distractions to get in the way of productive writing times.
In recent months I’ve been aware of the growing problem I have with an enormous volume of email traffic. It was severely getting in the way of essential, on task writing activities. I wasn’t making the progress I desired, so I had to do something drastic. Several years ago I solved the problem in a limited way by categorising incoming emails into folders. This streamlined the way I dealt with less important mail by placing them in their own folders waiting for attention when time allowed.
Problem emails
Since then the problem has escalated to a new level. Dealing with my incoming mail was taking increasingly larger slabs of time every day. Some emails sat waiting in their folder for months without being read. That was not good. The ever growing number of unread documents was beginning to really bug me. In fact, I was almost becoming depressed.
In a few weeks I will be travelling for an extended time, a significant portion of the journey will be without internet access and limited access for the rest. It horrified me to think of how many thousands of emails would be waiting for me on my return.
Dealing with the problem:
Over the last week I have been steadily unsubscribing from a whole range of newsletters that were causing the issue. Many of them are very worthy and interesting, I’m sure. In order to get some semblance of productivity back into my life I had to take this drastic action. After all, I can resubscribe again if I really need to. It will also mean I won’t have a massive problem to deal with when I return home from my travels.
That has to be a good thing.
Good writing.
My earliest attempts at writing
1 Comment »24th June, 2011; Category: The Writer's Life
From a very early age I wanted to be a writer. When I was about age 8 I was given a toy typewriter, probably the same as the one pictured above. This was one available in 1955, about when I was 8 years old. It wasn’t a true typewriter because it had a false keyboard. The letters were formed by turning the central dial to the required letter and then pressing the lever which then left an impression of the letter on the paper. It was a tedious process and operated in a similar way to early dial operated labelling machines (eg Dymo).
Before receiving this wonderful boost to my writing career I would fill scraps of paper, old school exercise books, leftover brown wrapping paper and leftover pads with my writing. With my new “typewriter” came the need for typing paper and replacement ribbons. I graduated into writing stories, jokes and articles using my new toy, leaving spaces for hand drawn illustrations.
It wasn’t long before I discovered carbon paper in my father’s writing bureau, so multiple copies of my class newsletter were now possible. I soon had classmates paying for the privilege of subscribing to my periodical. My career was off and running.
Until Dad found out.
It seems that the father of a classmate complained that, in his opinion, my entrepreneurial endeavours were somehow illegal. Reluctantly I had to pay back the money, and my writing career came to a grinding halt. For next 40 years I dedicated myself to my second choice, teaching. Now in retirement I can finally pursue that early dream, one that was almost snuffed out by an obnoxious and totally meddlesome person.
I sometimes wonder what might have been.
Don’t let anyone steal your dream.
Good writing.
The power of words
No Comments »20th June, 2011; Category: The Writer's Life
My grandson's solar powered helicopter
I am writing this post at my son’s home where we are staying for a few days of holiday. Our grandson, aged two and a half is a wonderful delight and his bright nature brings us all much joy. One of his favourite toys is a solar powered helicopter. It’s a simple little device made mainly of wood with two small solar panels on the rotor blades. Even a small amount of sunlight filtering through a window will send the blades whirring. It is an amazing contraption which intrigues us all.
One of the amazing things about this toy is the power generated by such small panels. Words are like that too. A few simple, uncomplicated words can have a powerful effect on the reader. A few well chosen sentences can change a person’s life. A story, poem or article can have a lasting influence over one person – or many people.
Choose your words carefully. Craft them lovingly. Launch them out into the wild world where they fly into the lives of others, bringing joy, blessing, laughter and perhaps even challenge to the recipients. Don’t waste your words; make them count for something.
Good writing.
Wendy Noble: reviewer, writer and speaker
I’ve been meaning to do this for a little while now.
Introducing Wendy Noble: reviewer, writer and speaker
I knew of Wendy through a mutual friend before I met her. The first time I did meet her was in a seminar while doing my Master of Arts course several years ago. She had almost finished her MA degree. I took an instant liking to her; warm, friendly and with a delightful sense of humour sharply honed by a few knocks in the School of Life. Her engaging personality lit up the room, and her perceptive comments about my writing, and that of my fellow students, was deply appreciated.
Wendy has recently entered the world of blogging. Her site (click here) is a delightful read about books, writing and general observations about people and life, It is an insightful commentary worth reading – even if all you want is a good laugh.
Links: